October Jefferson Award Recipient: Justyn Dallmann

Posted:
Saturday, October 9, 2010 6:42 PM EDT

By Heather Sawaski

STEVENS POINT (WAOW) -- Players from the Central Wisconsin Saints Hockey team got ready to hit the town, handing out free tickets to a game recently. The players hail from across the country, and the reason they're in Stevens Point, is their coach Justyn Dallmann.

"We were in a different league and it folded," Dallmann explained. "So I decided that we were going to try and find another league to get into because we had guys here waiting to play, but nobody to play against."

Dallmann spent a lot of time and effort getting the guys into the Great Lakes Hockey League, based out of Detroit. Within a month, the commission approved the Saints as an expansion team, giving the guys the go-ahead to get back on the ice.

"I had to put together a preliminary budget," Dallmann said. "What our expenses would be, what our incomes would be. To show that the team would be financially feasible."

On top of his full-time job, Dallmann spends an extra 4 to 8 hours a day working on hockey. He calls it a labor of love.

"I felt that they made a commitment to me and to the team and I felt that I owed it to them to give them the chance to continue," he said. "and not just say sorry, we're out of luck."

And his players are grateful.

"This is a pretty good league and I'm happy to be here," said Alex Lucas.

"It's great," said Gavin Palm. "It's a great team, a lot of talent, great coaching. It's a great community too."

Congratulations to Justyn. He and all our winners will be eligible to move on to the national competition.